Red Strings
by dandelion-heart
Summary: "Then maybe…a world where someone here is going out with me? There's gotta be one like that, right!" "Definitely not with me." "Even I wouldn't want to!"
1. ice cream

1.0

_ice cream

* * *

This wasn't a date.

Sunohara knew so because Kyou kept reminding him every minute and a half. It was "an outing between two acquaintances" she explained before they set out, making sure she made eye contact and spoke in her usual threatening tone so that he would have a forewarning before he teased her along the way. Which would never have happened anyways since Sunohara didn't care what the hell she called this walk – all he knew was that both of them were headed to the same ice cream stand. He wasn't even interested in making small talk, he just wanted his usual chocolate waffle cone and busied himself with imagining how many scoops of whipped cream and number of caramel syrup drizzles he would order.

"So remember," Kyou began again, brushing back loose violet strands around her neck, "this-"

"Isn't a date, I know!" he glowered at her. "We bumped into each other, you can shut up about it now! As if I'd be boasting about being on a date with _you_."

Her eyes widened and Sunohara immediately put up his hands in front of his face, knees shaking.

"Ah I didn't mean it! I just meant that, I don't deserve you anyways so why would I bother ruining your reputation-"

"Shut up." She passed by him, eyes now narrow and voice cold and he followed her meekly, all traces of bold irritation gone. He spotted the stand just a block away and resolved to stay quiet until then. He concentrated on watching her feet move in even, measured steps – he had never noticed her toes pointed in. He looked up and saw her shoulders hunched in tension.

They reached the crosswalk but when the pedestrian light flashed green, Kyou suddenly turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Kyou! Where are you going?" Sunohara took a step towards her.

"I'm not in the mood for ice cream," she snapped and Sunohara's overactive warning system began to ring.

"Ah come on! I didn't mean what I said," he called out with a weak smile. Her pace slowed.

"Let me treat you," he heard a voice say and when she turned around, staring at him in surprise, he realized he had spoken. "But this isn't a date," he added hurriedly and she waited for him to stop stammering before walking towards him, mouth set.

They left the stand, and Sunohara still didn't know what to say. He wondered if she knew where she was walking to because he was simply following her lead, his shoulder nearly brushing hers.

"Hey," she said, "thanks for the cone."

"Oh, yeah," he said by way of 'you're welcome,' lamenting the light feel of the wallet in his pocket.

She turned, sunlight dancing through her purple waves of hair.

"Well I'll be going now," she smiled awkwardly, hand lifted in a half-wave. "It was nice seeing you."

"Y-yeah, nice," Sunohara nodded, freezing when she drew closer, arm raised. Without thinking, he rushed forward and touched his lips to hers.

She flew back, face flushed and Sunohara blinked, trying to understand what happened. Her eyes were searching his, confused, and suddenly his heart sank in cold dread as he realized she was trying to give him a good-bye hug.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, wondering what to say and what to do. Then Sunohara shoved his ice cream into her hands and bolted away, afraid of looking back.

An hour later in his room, all he could think about was how he should have kept the cone.

* * *

**A/N**: This was inspired by the 20_firstkisses fic challenge at LiveJournal; if you enjoyed, please review!


	2. injury

12.0

_injury

* * *

"I'm kissing him?!" Kyou screeched, Sunohara flinching involuntarily.

"He was the only guy who looked at you and said no," the girl holding his arm on the right giggled. "We thought it'd make the challenge even better."

"K-Kyou, who are these girls?" Sunohara asked, glancing about with wide eyes as Kyou leaned over to snatch the school photo the girl on his left was fanning herself with. He knew the picture was from their senior year but he was still a little confused as to how he had ended up here when all he did was see the picture and say he'd never want to kiss her. The parking lot was filled with bystanders and he tried to swallow the hard lump in his throat down.

"Shut up! You knew you did this on purpose," Kyou fumed, taking a step forward. Sunohara nearly shrieked but the girl on his right let him go to put her arm around the shaking violet-headed girl.

"Honey, all of us have to do this! Other sororities make it much worse! Besides," she gave him an appraising once-over, "he's not that bad."

"What did they ask you in the restaurant," Kyou growled, ignoring her friends. It wasn't a question, it was an order Sunohara realized.

"If I would make out with you," Sunohara winced again. "But obviously I said no otherwise I wouldn't be here!"

"If only I was that lucky," Kyou muttered, glowering at the girls laughing around them.

"Kiki, we just need to take a photo of you two so the seniors know you did it."

"But he's not a complete stranger! I've known him since high school," Kyou hissed.

"But we recorded him saying he'd never ever pucker up for you," the shorter of the two winked and held up the camera with a disarming smile. "And that is worth a whole lot more! Now say cheese!"

"Wait wait, I don't want to do this," Sunohara yelled, panicked. It was too late to run now that Kyou was now right next to him and a gathering of college students were watching from a distance. Kyou tossed her braid over her shoulder and spat out her gum with more disgust that he personally thought was necessary.

"You have to. I need to do this before tomorrow so shut up."

"Some friends you have," he retorted, face flushed.

"They're not the ones kissing me so I don't have to be mad at them," she snapped.

Sunohara stared at her, mouth open in disbelief.

"Just promise me you won't enjoy this or tell anyone," Kyou glared at him, her finger boring into his chest. "Or I'll rip out your test-"

"Ready Kyou?" The girl with the camera fixed the viewfinder to her eyes, slender fingers poised to take the shot.

"Make it short-" Sunohara started to say but Kyou suddenly took both his lapels into her hands and yanked down so that his mouth closed onto hers. Their noses bumped into each other but she shifted so that her face was tilted at an angle and he suddenly tasted cherries and strawberries. Then he heard the click of the camera and Kyou pushed herself away with a gasp. Her face was red but her eyes were round and Sunohara realized she had rubbed some of her gloss off onto his lips.

"Yeah Kiki! Hot as always," one of the girls cheered. Kyou strode over to them, ignoring Sunohara's nervous chuckle, and crossed her arms.

"Well finish the interview thing so we can go," she said with her back to him, voice low.

"Right. Hey dude, how was the kiss?"

Sunohara looked over and saw the girl who had interviewed the guys in the restaurant holding the video camera back up.

He opened his mouth, wondering what to say, his eyes moving back onto Kyou.

"Well I promised not to enjoy it," Sunohara started, feeling oddly pleased when Kyou's shoulders hitched, "but, yeah, it was alright."

She didn't turn around but the girls waved goodbye for her and tugged on her arms as they walked away. Sunohara grinned uneasily until they were out of earshot and he sighed, feeling dizzy in the cool spring sunshine.

"I lied. That was hot."


	3. purple painted Chevrolet

16.0

_purple-painted Chevrolet

* * *

"I'm only doing it if I get compensation," Kyou crossed her arms with a glower. "I don't even care if it's ridiculous, I want something for this."

"You can't break the Kiss Cam tradition," an elderly woman whispered fiercely behind her but Kyou only slouched farther down into her seat.

"Youhei, tell them I want something if I have to kiss you."

"Kyou, come on, what are you afraid of?"

"Of broadcasting this to the whole world!" Kyou furrowed her brows and shook her head petulantly. "No I refuse."

"Oh come on-"

"We'll award you two sweethearts with a special prize," a voiceover declared on the loudspeaker. "Just kiss for the Kiss Cam!"

"As if the prize will be anything really good and expensive," Kyou grumbled.

The boos of the crowd started to grow louder and Sunohara turned with a pleading grin.

"Look at that, they listened! Come on Kyou, they're all looking mad. No one's gonna watch the game if we don't."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're looking forward to this," Kyou sniffed, her heart beating wildly as she felt hundreds of eyes focus on her, annoyed and expectant.

'Kiss her.' 'Kiss her.' 'Kiss her.'

The crowd's cheers morphed into one demanding request and Kyou turned, face pinched.

"Are you a good kisser?"

"What?" Sunohara blanched. "I-I think so…"

"Fine," Kyou bit her lip, blushing a red so deep, it looked like a burn. "Let's do this."

She inhaled in and out a few times. Facing a twitching Sunohara, she pursed her lips and closed her eyes but the moment she felt Sunohara's breath over her mouth, she turned away.

"You can't breathe on me!"

"Sorry! I'll hold it in!"

She waited before readying herself again but before she closed her eyes, she caught him rushing forward in a blur of motion. She gasped and nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Not so fast!"

"You're making this such a big deal! I thought you didn't care!" Sunohara complained, hanging his head.

The crowd's attention was fixed upon them now and Kyou felt even more light-headed from the heat trapped behind her face. Their banter was eliciting cheers and advice and Kyou tugged on Sunohara's sleeve furiously.

"Let's just do this and do it right!"

"Oh shut up," he grumbled but before she had a chance to protest, he had kissed her gently and right on her lips.

And then he started moving away.

"Wait," she said, the sound muffled. Kyou pushed herself after him without thinking. Her lips clung to his and she immediately realized that his skin was soft and smelled surprisingly nice, like cotton and apples. He didn't move, frozen in fear most likely, she thought, but she didn't pull away until she heard the roaring approval of the crowd seep into her senses.

"Your prize will be presented at the end of the game," the announcer was stating with obvious relief and the attention swerved back to the game.

"Good show," the old woman nodded eagerly at Kyou but the moment her lips were free, Kyou had stared down at her boots, her hands balled into tight fists. Sunohara coughed nervously beside her and she opened her mouth to try and say something but he beat her to it.

"You…you're a good kisser." Kyou glanced at him, reassured at seeing a face as flushed as hers.

"Thanks. You are, too." Kyou smiled and both of them laughed quietly and a little nervously together.


	4. coffee

4.0

_coffee

* * *

Kyou couldn't function on less than seven hours of sleep. If by any chance someone did manage to wake her early, she lay on her bed in a daze, staring up at the ceiling without blinking until Ryou knocked on her door and whispered that breakfast was ready.

This morning was no exception and when she stumbled down the stairs with mismatched socks, yawning her way through the living room and nearly tripping onto the sofa, Sunohara realized anyone could do absolutely anything usually unforgivable around Kyou in this state and she wouldn't mind.

"Yo! Feeling ok there?" Sunohara chirped, bounding over to the couch where Kyou was sprawled, glaring at him sleepily.

"Tired, you see that can't…?" She tried to stretch and gave up halfway, arms dangling off the arm.

"Yes I can," Sunohara suppressed a laugh and watched Ryou from the corner of his eye peer around the kitchen door, worry knitted in her brow.

"Well! I came because I forgot to take notes for chemistry and you're in the same class as me for it-" he paused, still wary of the exhausted girl with unfocused eyes beside him. "So can I have it?"

"Take from backpack," she groaned, rubbing her alarmingly pink eyes.

"Ah thank you!" He breathed out and smiled but before he could reach for her brown bag, she had taken his hand into her own.

"You owe me," her voice was suddenly low and dangerous and Sunohara froze, heart beating wildly. Her facial expression didn't seem to have changed much but her eyes had grown brighter, looking almost mischievous.

"W-w-what do you want?"

"Owe me…youuuuu," she replied, voice fading, and he realized that she was falling back asleep, eyelids drifting down but her hold was tightening.

"R-Ryou!" He hissed but the girl was already behind the couch, eyes wide and fearful. She shook her head silently when he gestured madly for her to come closer.

"She's so unpredictable when she's like this! She almost never gets this tired-"

Ryou squeaked in surprise when Kyou launched herself onto Sunohara, nuzzling his neck, eyes nearly closed.

"Idiot you…idiot. Why don't you- idiot."

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Sunohara gasped, trying his best to pry Kyou away.

"And why does she keep calling me idiot?"

"Youhei." Her voice shifted into something softer, sweeter, and he looked down right as she looked up and pushed herself just an inch farther until their lips brushed against each other.

Sunohara shot up, grabbed his back-pack and ran towards the door without looking back.

Ryou blinked after him but Kyou was already asleep again, snoring quietly into the cushions.


End file.
